Magical Girl Gunslinger

“Would you like to make a contract?” When eldritch horrors known as the Anathema began tearing through reality to invade Earth, aliens calling themselves the Zenith stepped in to protect humanity. Individuals were chosen and gifted with the ability to use magic and advanced technologies to combat the existential threat. Over twenty-one years later, the so-called “Magical Guardians” are still hard at work keeping the peace. With their flashy outfits, superhuman abilities, and reality-defying spells, they are the part-time heroes and full-time idols of modern society. But none of that really matters to Mai, whose biggest problems are dealing with her family, classmates, and the ever growing dread of her imminent future. As far as Mai is concerned, mundane problems are more than enough to worry about, and the idea of magic and monsters might as well be nothing more than daydreams. At least, they were until she finds herself in the middle of an Anathema invasion…  A Dark Magical Girl LitRPG with sci-fi elements. Note: Slow burn and slow, gradual introduction of LitRPG mechanics that become a focal point once introduced. Please be aware this story contains intense violence, gore, traumatic situations, and other potentially unsettling content. Chapters tend to be longer but with inconsistent updates. Art is AI generated by Puddz. This story is also posted on Spacebattles. As of July 2026, this story is only authorized to be on Royal Road, Spacebattles, and my Patreon. Please ignore any other website hosting it or trying to sell it to you as scrapers are attempting to profit off my work. Thank you for your understanding. This story is inspired by Stray Cat Strut, by RavensDagger. The "point system" for buying items is based on SCS's system. Magical girl Familiars are also a shared concept as both stories are in the magical girl genre. Some of the major differences between the two stories is this has a substantial LitRPG system including levels, stats, skills, magic, and also a generally darker tone. The first "arc" of the story is, however, an introduction into the world and characters, and as such, the LitRPG elements do not come into full play until later.